My neighbor’s enormous shed is right up against my fence, as big as a house
SMOKING residents have razed their neighbours’ huge shed built right on top of their garden fence, saying it is as big as a house and looks straight out of a bedroom.
A homeowner in Charnwood, Leicestershire, is building a 4m high detached gym at the back of their house.
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Six local residents objected to the plans when they were submitted, and none supported them.
But last summer Charnwood Borough Council rejected the objections and approved the plans.
The council later apologized to a resident for not telling her the huge shed had been approved.
Neighbor Tina Watts said: “It would be a gross overdevelopment of this site, causing a loss of sunlight and daylight into my property.
“The proposed gymnasium exceeds the permitted height of 4 meters when a
proposal is so close to a border line.
“The gym is large enough to use as a home, with working water and waste disposal.
She added: “No one can guarantee that this gym will not be used for residential use.
“My garden would be seriously overlooked from the upper rooms of the new build, as well as from my kitchen and bedroom at the rear, resulting in a serious breach of privacy.”
“The plans are more of a hostel setup – will this be used as a family home or business?”
Gerald Stew said: “What will this building be used for?
“It seems to me that such large extensions exceed the permitted amount and the outbuilding could be used as a dwelling.”
Pritesh Rathod said: “There will be a significant loss of light and privacy in my mother’s house.
“There are also concerns that this revision to a 3-bedroom semi-detached property appears to lend itself more to student accommodation rather than a family home.
“I am very concerned about the construction and that it will have health impacts, additional safety concerns, upset and distress.”
Andy Page, whose house adjoins the outbuilding, said: “I feel the scheme is an overdevelopment of the existing property.
“Additional high-level windows at the rear overlook our property.
“This gym is about 50 m2 and the footprint is almost as big as our house.
James Upton said: “The outbuilding looks far too big for a garden shed. Due to its size it could be lived in.”
Clint Reynolds said: “An extension of this size would overlook our private garden.
“As the garden is used regularly, this has obviously raised privacy concerns for us.”
BARN END
The parish council backed the angry neighbors and said: “Councillors are concerned that the proposed extension is an overdevelopment at this site.
“They believe this will result in the loss of privacy for adjacent properties to the rear of the project.”
But Charnwood Borough Council’s report approving the plans said: “The proposed development complies with the relevant development plan policies.
‘There would be no damage to nearby facilities.
“There must be no adverse visual damage to the character and appearance of the guest home, the streetscape or the surrounding area.
“It would not lead to damage to road safety.”
But the council was forced to apologize to Tina Watts for not telling her the shed had been approved.
Upholding her complaint, an officer said: ‘The neighbor consultation letter you received stated that we would notify you when a decision had been made, but we did not.
‘Unfortunately, the letter template used was outdated, because outcome reports would no longer be issued as a matter of course in 2022.
“The form letter template should have been updated at that time to remove any reference to notifications, but this was not the case.
“This error has now been corrected. I accept that this was unintentionally misleading as you were expecting a
notification.
“I support this aspect of your complaint and apologize for any uncertainty or confusion that has been caused.”
There was no answer when The Sun knocked on the door of the address where the shed is being built.
Charnwood Borough Council has been contacted for comment.